Nashville court instructs DCS on release of children's files

Jan. 29, 2013

Written by

The Tennessean

A Nashville court issued specific instructions Monday on how the Department of Children’s Services must redact the case files of children who died or nearly died before the files are made public.

Chancery Court Judge Carol McCoy last week ruled in favor of The Tennessean and a coalition of media organizations that filed a lawsuit to make public the records of children who died after having some contact with the state’s $650 million child welfare agency.

The state has until Feb. 6 to produce records for four sample cases.

On Monday, the judge issued a ruling instructing state lawyers they would have to provide 48 pages from the 143-page file of an infant known only as “FCB” — after redacting identifying information.

In the limited information DCS released to The Tennessean before the court order, FCB was identified as a 9-month-old Sumner County girl who died as a result of blunt force injuries to her head on Oct. 31, 2010.

The state must likewise release 42 pages from the file of “FEB,” a Rutherford County infant who died Jan. 11, 2012. The department previously released a brief note about the child, who died in a shelter where he was living with his mother. DCS noted that its prior involvement was “not pertinent” to the child’s death, declining to share more details.

The court similarly ordered the release of 38 pages from the 315-page file of “NFAG,” an 8-year-old Lincoln County boy who nearly died in 2010 after allegedly suffering from medical neglect; and 35 pages from the 637-page file of “FDH,” who was 15 years old when he died in 2011 in a car accident with a driver allegedly under the influence of drugs.

The Tennessean sought for more than three months records on more than 200 children who died or nearly died since 2009 after being brought to the attention of DCS. The agency declined to give many details, citing privacy concerns. The Tennessean then asked for all available records in sample cases, but the agency again declined to provide the children’s records.